Production/release timeline
Chronology (Mostly from Brown’s book) There were a couple of times that I couldn’t figure out what dates he was talking about… Locations in parenthesis are where the scenes were shot though Brown doesn't specifically mention them. Note that many locations are not accounted for. See also Call Sheets.) *** Early 1972 Shaffer, Snell, Lee decided to find a new project after being involved with David Pinner’s Ritual Script ready July Snell starts at British Lion showreel produced. (orchards, pregnant women, phallic topiary) Giovanni brought on board Late summer Ok’d by studio to proceed August 31 - Flannery first contacted by Hardy September Early September - Flannery returns to Shepperton to plan out the production, Casting is done, Technical crew assembled 4 - Flannery met with Hardy 5 - Flannery signed contract 6 - location scouting begins (Hardy, Flannery and Ted Morley - production manager), took 6 weeks (CF) 7 - the three go to St Ninian’s cave, spend the night at Lochinch castle 9 - visit Kircudbright 10 - look for a good beach 27 - Stuart Hopps shows the boys how to do the May Pole dance (and on 10/5) 30 - Galloway Gazette announces casting call October 1 - 3 - Jake Wright goes to Dumfries and Galloway 3 - Stranraer Council approves filming. 4 - Director and “principal” actors arrive in Galloway. Hardy, Lee and Woodward visit Culzean Castle. 5 - Stuart Hopps shows the boys how to do the May Pole dance (and on 9/27) 8 - construction of stones begins (took 6 days - 10/14) 9 - Shooting begins in Plockton 9 and 10 - Harbor master scenes, inspection of the ship (Called the schooner Summerisle) 11 - Howie’s house searching filmed 12 - day off 13 - Culzean shoot starts, arriving at Holly Grimmond’s and returning to Green Man were shot (3 scenes showing his journey there and back which include the Boobrie Bird and scene with topiary NOT filmed.) Shots of Lee and Woodward walking (not the apple dialogue) and Howie’s arrival by pony and trap. Dining room scene shot. Brown - search upstairs at May Morrison’s house shot. 14 - auditions for local cast, King St. (Douglas House). Main crew rested while Logan Gardens was prepared. Peter Allwork 2nd unit crew shooting aerials of Scottish Highlands used for credits 15 - Logan Gardens: The “We carry death…” baby was supposed to be floating down a dyke but due to a drought, pumps had to be brought in. This scene was shot but not used. (Doesn't appear in Shaffer script.) Apple dialogue scene shot. Construction of the wicker man starts in Burrowhead. 16-18 - Lochinch: Howie’s cycling scenes to and from Mrs Grimmonds cut, indoor castle scenes shot 17 - Lord Summerisle with Miss Rose and Howie brings hare… (Lochinch, night) 18 - Courtyard before the parade. Procession (Lochinch) 19 - (Lochinch) Howie rides past the stones during fire dance, long distance shots from castle too. then ‘chop chop’ scene was shot there. (beach near St Ninians' cave) offering the goddess of the sea and Howie sees Rowan. first unit goes to Stranaer. close-ups of Howie being rowed to and from seaplane (not used but have a pic of this). encounter with McTaggert, nighttime police car ride (shot indoors, not at night unless they mean the exterior shots...),postman bicycling scene, Kirkcudbright - mainland prostitute scene (shot that night). Peter Allwork shot scenes of seaplane taking off and landing at nearby Loch Ryan. 20 - Closing the mainland pub scene (Kirkcudbright) 21 - Rest day except for Lee, Rowan and Lesley Mackie. harvest festival pics and darkroom pics shot then 22 - Anwoth: Shaffer appears on set, (cast and crew Plockton bar footage shot then!), Shaffer comforts Woodward… 24 - Entire cast except for Myrtle and Daisy at Burrowhead for 3 day shoot. 5 scenes. 142 - 147 25 - scene from when Rowan and Howie come out of cave to end, studio men (American bond co?) try to wrap the film, burn #1 in hero man, 26 - Burn #2 close-ups in shorter man. head falling over shot. 27? - Pick-up shots for procession to the beach, Woodward not included (A “double” was Punch) (near St Ninian's cave) 28 - Rest day for cast and crew 29 - Beach shots (near St Ninian's cave) 30 - Howie meets “librarian” scene and reading in library (Whithorn) 31 - Anwoth: schoolhouse, ruined church, grave keeper and nighttime grave shots. November Britt Ekland discovers she is pregnant. 1 - Gatehouse of Fleet: chemists, exterior shots of Ash and Willow and Lord Summerisle (Whithorn) 2 - Exteriors and interiors of May Morrison’s (Kirkcudbright), Lord Summerisle’s Whitman speech (Whithorn) 3 - Willow’s dance filmed, butcher and fishmonger scenes (after Willow’s dance so it wasn’t evening?) 4 - Rest day (5 & 6 0 interiors of May Morrison’s)? 5 - Anwoth: Miss Rose, schoolgirls and gravekeeper - retakes! (Newton Stewart darkroom on standby) 7 - 10 - Creetown: green man interior sequences, bakery interior shot 12 - Gatehouse of Fleet: Howie and Willow outside pub, Howie and Gillie (shot but deleted), nighttime shots of Green Man exterior, 13 — Lord Summerisle speech history of island speech shot in Threave but deleted (crew spent 4 days dressing set) 15 - Interiors of Howies room (Whithorn) 17 - Greyfriars church interior (Kirkcudbright) 18 - Rest day, bridge scene actor “signed up” in Kirkcudbright 19 - Kirkcubright: Bridge scene shot called off. Howie pursues hobby horse, funeral parlor, police station, 24 - Wrap (40 days, 40 nights). Two extra days used for various cover shots Brown later says mainland pub and prostitute scenes were shot between 10/12 and 24… (pg 427) and were definitely in Steam Packet Inn in Kirkcudbright (owner paid, etc) 25 - cast and crew return to London (says 10/25 in book…) Orgy and cave sequences shot later, (Wookey Hole, England) 1973 January Deely and Spikings join British Lion. February18 Final cost of film summarized. 448, 300 pounds. Post-production started in February. Edited at Shepperton. Took 3 months. March Snell told he would be replaced. May 10–25 Corman sees WM statue (a spare one leftover) at Cannes and asks to see the movie when it is done… (He was told it was incomplete). He gets a 16 mm copy later… (when?) sometime after this: Eric Boyd-Perkins cuts it down overnight using the list of changes Corman wanted, taking 15 minutes out, leaving us with the “theatrical version.” (Trailer has an excerpt of Dr Ewan’s speech and “far-out” Giovanni music that wasn’t in Hardy’s cut… http://youtu.be/21gb49H-Uo4) November Film still not released. Lee sees the edited 102 minute version, for the first time. Late 1973 Released but had X rating. (When would it have gone on tv?) December Test screenings at Metropole Cinema in Victoria, London. December 14 (and after) Gets bad reviews. 1974 Early 1974 - Screened for US distributors. January 13 - A ”premiere” shown at the Regal Cinema, Stranraer and the Cinema, Newton Stewart. 21 - Official opening at the Odeon Haymarket, London, as double bill with Don’t Look Now. February Movie was pretty much done showing in theaters. April 30 - “Grand Prix winner at the third International Festival of Fantasy and Science Fiction Films in Paris” aka “Grand Prize: 3rd Festival of Fantastic Films, Paris, 1974” May Started playing in US. Over in a few weeks. (San Diego and Atlanta) 1975 Giovanni tries to check for his royalties and gets nowhere. 1976 Spring Hardy phones around to try to find out what has happened to his film. (8/26/76 story in The Evening Independent about Stirling Smith being bitten by rat in Orpheum Theater!) September 9 - John Simon and Sterling Smith screen the film (theatrical version, 88 min) at the Robert E Lee Theater, New Orleans, just for themselves. (Hoping to distribute it.) 1977 Abraxas (John Simon and Stirling Smith) get the rights. Hardy informs them a 102 minute version exists somewhere. They get it from Corman in early 1977 October 28 - Cinefantastique issue comes out coincidentally with New Orleans opening at the Sena Mall (Metaire) which gets cancelled. Film starts appearing at the University Cinema in Baton Rouge and the Meadowbrook Cinema 6 in Jackson, MS. December 12 - Abraxas revived Corman print plays in New Orleans. 1978 March Sterling Smith writes to FBI about (tv) distribution, which would put the movie on tv before it got into theaters. May Novel comes out. (9/78 Telluride CO Film Fest. or May? - Brown says both…) 1979 Paperback of novel comes out. January 6 - Opens in San Francisco’s Castro theater, delayed from 10/78 planned opening. 96 min version, not 102. No mainland scenes. February Opens in Oregon. March Seattle and in 7 theaters in Los Angeles. Wins “Best Screenplay and Best Picture at the American Science Fiction Awards” aka? “Best Horror Film’: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror (USA) 1979” May San Diego Before June Churchill Films takes possession of videotape masters and original 102 min film print which they then lose… Simon gets brief access and gets VHS release of 102 min cut on Media Home Entertainment. November Shaffer writes a sequel. 1980 March 26 - Theatrical version opens in NYC theaters. Slightly after that it goes on WOR tv, NYC. May Film is playing in America, Lee promoting it. Hardy had done that the previous year. Stirling Smith died of a heart attack, 1980? 1981 May First home video release in Britain. 1993 US cable tv premiere 1998 December Reunion at Ellangowan Hotel for BBC Scotland documentary (Ex-s) 1990s WM #1 legs burned in bonfire 1998 Falkirk - showing of :45 of the Plockton home movie footage. (See 2nd to last post in this thread.) 1999 Brown and Shaffer pose in front of WM #2 stumps (see andy footage too) 2000 May 3 - National Film Theatre (NFT), London hosts screening and talk in co-ordination with Allan Brown's book release. Quentin Cooper, film critic, Anthony Shaffer, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt, Seamus Flannery, Allan Brown and Steve Pemberton of the League of Gentlemen appear. Plockton home movie footage shown. It included the girls removing their masks and pub scenes. (Handouts 1, 2, 3 4) 2006 Legs disappear from WM #2. 2015 October - 4:26 of Plockton home movie footage of Howie and the girls taking their masks off uploaded to YouTube.